For many years there has been an interest in wheel ornamentation and, in particular, wheel lighting and strobing for automobiles, motorcycles, bicycles, and other wheeled vehicles.
Wheel lighting and illumination systems can enhance the aesthetics of the wheels and the vehicle. The primary purpose of these systems is to display the wheel under low light conditions. However when the vehicle is in motion the details of the wheel are lost because of the blurring of the wheel image. Therefore an enhancement to a wheel lighting system or a wheel illumination system is a stroboscopic system that can appear to freeze or slow the rotation of the wheel such that the detail of the wheel can be seen even when the vehicle is in motion.
Beyond allowing the wheel or attached lighting elements to be viewed while moving, a strobe-enhanced system provides other aesthetically appealing effects.
Generally speaking a strobe lighting system can be used to make objects undergoing repetitive motion appear to slow or freeze (remain stationery). Conventional electronic stroboscopes use a flashtube to intermittently illuminate a moving object. Such devices can be synchronized with the rotational frequency of a device to allow portion of a quickly rotating device to be viewed more clearly. This type of stroboscopic effect has been used in conjunction with a wheel lighting system to produce the illusion of slowing or freezing the motion of light emitting diodes (LEDs) mounted to a wheel cover. This reduces the blurring of the light from the LEDs due to the vehicles motion and allows the lighting elements to be seen more clearly while the vehicle is in motion. Such a system is generally described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,016,144 to Dimaggio, issued May 14, 1991, entitled “Illuminating Wheel Covers” ('144).
Another system uses such a stroboscopic effect to produce the illusion of slowing or freezing the motion of the tire with a light source that is attached to a vehicle frame. Such a system is generally described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,548,274 to Anderson, issued Aug. 20, 1996, entitled “Strobe Light for Vehicle Tire and Wheel” ('274).
Both the '144 patent and the '274 patent have distinct disadvantages. For example, neither addresses the difficulty of low frequency strobing that is considered distractive to the operators of other vehicles. The flashing of effect of the low frequency strobing may constitute a serious driving hazard and such flashing lights may be illegal in certain circumstances and jurisdictions.
Additionally, for such systems, at least one component of a tachometer, used to determine the rotational frequency of the wheel and set the strobing frequency, is attached to the vehicle frame. Such systems therefore are difficult to install and typically alter the vehicle permanently. That is, systems requiring components to be installed in or affixed to the body of the vehicle are more difficult to install and repair. This is due not only to increased installation processes, but also to the fact that vehicle design varies considerably between manufacturers and models, making it difficult to generalize installation procedures.